Members of various Muslim outfits under the banner of the All Muslim Federation on Friday staged a demonstration on Huzur Road here seeking to let blast case convict Abudahir on parole as ordered by the High Court for his treatment. They also demanded his release forthwith.
Abudahir was convicted in the Coimbatore Serial Blasts case of 1998 and is serving trial period and sentence for the last 15 years.
According to the members, he is suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus for the last five years.
The disease can lead to malfunctioning of organs one after the other and ultimately bring about death. The convict, because of the parole for 90 days during the previous regime and treatment in a private hospital, was able to pull on for some years.
Now, the disease had led to malfunctioning of both his kidneys and he suffered from cardiac related ailments, they claimed. He was once again given parole for 90 days for treatment in a private hospital. But, when the health condition started deteriorating, a plea was made for his release and to examine the representation, a medical board was constituted. The board ruled in favour of the release, they claimed. However, a report from a section of official machinery was against the release. Hence, an appeal was filed before the Madras High Court seeking extension of the parole. The High Court ordered for his parole from September 30, 2012 and issued a direction to the State Home Secretary, the demonstrators claimed.
Without implementing the order, the State had gone on an appeal and the High Court had dismissed the appeal on September 14. However, the State was yet to implement the orders of the court, the members claimed.
Prison sources said that the issue was due for disposal by the Madras High Court on December 3. The said convict was accused of not taking treatment during the previous parole, and he being at large without police escort could lead to unrest, hence the decision to oppose his release, the sources added. However, the State or the Prison Department was not against providing him treatment with police escort, they said.
